I borrowed a friend's MLB.tv login to watch the home opener at Fenway. Pretty awesome, I have to admit. I'm tempted to upgrade my MLB audio subscription, except most games are on really late in my timezone. The game itself is such a whitewashing that I'm basically just soaking up the atmosphere with Don and Jerry, rather than being concerned about the outcome of the game (Beckett does look sharp, though).
Headline in the New York Times:
Hunger strike breaks out at Guantanamo.
Don't hunger strikes take time to develop by their very nature? Did one of the guards jump on his radio and report, "Alert, a hunger strike has broken out in cell block D. I repeat a hunger strike has broken out!"
I was reading the Times article on a lawsuit between Equal and Splenda when I saw the following excellent corrigendum:
Because of an editing error, the article also
misidentified the gender of the judge overseeing the Equal-Splenda
case. Gene E. K. Pratter is a woman.
Also, as an aside: Dear Scott, the reason people eat artificial sweeteners is because they taste sweet but do not make you fat. Perhaps you couldn't reason this out because you have the metabolism of a hummingbird. Many Americans do not.
John McCain led a congressional junket to Iraq this week. The New York Times describes the security for their tour of a Baghdad market thusly:
The delegation arrived at the market, which is called Shorja, on Sunday
with more than 100 soldiers in armored Humvees — the equivalent of an
entire company — and attack helicopters circled overhead, a senior
American military official in Baghdad said. The soldiers redirected
traffic from the area and restricted access to the Americans, witnesses
said, and sharpshooters were posted on the roofs. The congressmen wore
bulletproof vests throughout their hourlong visit.
Locals reacted incredulously when they heard McCain et al describe their trip as evidence that the security situation in the capital is improving. By far the best description of the aforementioned market visit came from Representative Mike Pence, an Indiana Republican:
[It was] like a normal outdoor market in Indiana in the summertime.
Priceless.
I think this week's LOST was easily the best episode of the season. It started off with a great throwaway line from Sawyer tossed as a bone to fans annoyed at the proliferation of characters this season:
Who the hell is Nicki?
I was worried for a few minutes it might end up being a grim flashback episode with no new content, but quite the opposite: a few juicy morsels of information about overarching plot nestled amongst the Paolo/Nicki exposition. Plus a completely awesome and super-creepy finale. Harkens back to the good old days!
Trinity term 2007 begins on 22 April, three weeks from today. It serves as a signpost for several things for me. My term as Vice President of the Brasenose College MCR ends, which means I have to tidy up the books and arrange for the signatory tranfer at Lloyd's (I hope to accomplish the former tonight, the latter tomorrow).
T07 will be my seventh term at Oxford, which means I'll be hounded by the authorities to complete my transfer report (an intermediate written report which is orally examined by two professors, intended to ensure I'm on target to obtain a D Phil in the prescribed time). This means I have three weeks from today to write up my transfer and submit it. This will hopefully be an achievable goal since the principal chapter thereof has already been written in the form of a published paper.
Finally (and slightly more philosophically) I'm approaching my two year Oxford-anniversary (technically on 20/4). It's been a weird two years; incredibly exciting professionally, less so personally. I'd certainly recommend living abroad to anyone wishing to further his understanding of the world at large and especially America's place in that world.
